2/17/13

As you may have noticed if you checked recently, I've put the map editor on my projects page. I've been making great progress on it, too! I have layers working, although you can't select them yet. They can each have their own tileset as well. You can place and remove tiles on the active layer, and select which tile to use. Right now, my system is limited to one tileset per layer, but I may expand that eventually. Once I add autotiles, saving/loading, a rectangle tool, and bucket fill, I'll finally have a better map editor that the one I was developing back in the summer. It may seem like a lot to add, but most of it is quite easy. I hope to get that done over the course of the next two weeks.

Also, I've got another sprite. This was(as usual) from my last Game Tech game.

I think it shows that I've made a bit of progress since winter. My shading still sucks, but I didn't ever really use dithering before. Now I use it fairly often, and I think it improves my sprites. Thoughts?

2/9/13

The week's over once more, and this time I plan to capitalize on my freedom. The plan is to work on a good, well structured map editor for future games. There are a few things to do:

I need a list of features to implement. To be honest, I'll probably start with Halberd's feature list and work from there.

I need to create a tilemap format. I could use an existing format, but that would limit me greatly. Making my own lets me pick and choose what things to store, and how.

I need to structure it well. If I do a poor job now, It'll come back to haunt me later. Check out my projects page, and see how often I end up refactoring my code. That's something I want to avoid.

I need to actually do it! Talk will get me nowhere. That's why I chose to do it now, rather than later.

You might also wonder why I need to make a map editor when I have so many other projects. To continue working on AMAZE, I need levels. My best bet is to write the editor first, and then some loading code. That way I only have to write code once.

While I'm at it, let me post some sprite work for this month:

One of my friends was just grabbing sprites off the web for his Game Tech projects, so I offered to draw him an enemy. It didn't quite turn out how I wanted, but he seems to like it. Also, you may notice that I've begun using some mild dithering in my sprites. I'm not very good at it yet, but I like the look.

2/4/13

This is pretty late, but I have a few sprites from my last Game Tech Project. Overall, I think they turned out well. The one on the far right is a bit lackluster, though.

My next project is a bit more challenging than the others, so I can't say when I'll be able to get back to my own stuff. I DID spend some time on Textyventure recently, though. Lastly, I'd like to put up a page detailing current projects. I'll try to do that today.